Learn with Dr. Emily

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit learnwithdremily.substack.com

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Parenting On Your Own Path Course
Online Course for Elementary Teachers
Bring Dr. Emily to Your School
Summer Workshops

Neurodivergent students face more challenges at school than their neurotypical peers. They are led through a standardized curriculum that doesn’t always match their variable learning profile. For some, this will build character and grit, while others may feel helpless and lose their motivation. This often looks like they don’t care, but they do.

All children care, but they might let go of their effort because the learning doesn’t feel attainable to them. In other words, it’s easier to “not care” than to continue trying and failing.

We must make learning feel attainable to every student by incorporating their interests and building their trust so learning feels relevant to them.

Welcome to Learn with Dr. Emily, the podcast. Where parents and teachers come together for neurodivergent youth. I’m your host, Dr. Emily King, child psychologist and former school psychologist specializing in raising and teaching children and teens diagnosed with autism, ADHD, anxiety, learning disabilities, and/or giftedness. Each week, I share my thoughts on a topic related to psychology, parenting, education, or parent-teacher collaboration, which you can read on my blog or listen here.

If you want to learn more about me and my online resources for parents and teachers, visit www.learnwithdremily.com. Let’s get started.

Parents, you will notice that for the next four weeks I’m going to be talking directly to teachers. I invite you to stay on to read and listen. The reason I change my focus at times is so that parents can hear things from a teacher’s perspective and teachers can hear things from a parent’s perspective. Sharing our stories and perspectives is the foundation of effective collaboration. I hope you stay for it all.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit learnwithdremily.substack.com

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Parenting On Your Own Path Course
Online Course for Elementary Teachers
Bring Dr. Emily to Your School
Summer Workshops

I love education and helping children, teachers, and parents work together. I am so grateful for my experience working in public schools. It taught me that nothing is simple. There are no simple solutions, only complex solutions that involve staying curious and cultivating collaboration. Every child's brain is different so how can this be straight-forward? If we try to make things uniform, we fail someone. The complexity is actually the part that I love to help sort out. But working as a therapist with the most complex emotional and behavioral concerns is intense work. As therapists, we are trained to recognize compassion fatigue in ourselves and set boundaries to manage our energy. You know who else needs to know how to do this? Educators.

Teachers, if you’re ready to learn more about managing your energy and beating burnout this school year, I have created a free video series for teachers available the week of October 17th. You can sign up for this free resource here: https://www.learnwithdremily.com/beatburnout

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit learnwithdremily.substack.com

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Parenting On Your Own Path Course
Online Course for Elementary Teachers
Bring Dr. Emily to Your School
Summer Workshops

In my work with parents raising neurodivergent kids, one of the most common questions I get is, “How do I know what is their disability and what is just refusal?” We have to remember that when children (and adults) refuse to do something, there is usually a reason beyond leaving the person who is asking feeling frustrated. When a child resists a task they are often fatigued, unmotivated, disinterested, or the task is too hard or too fast.

Learn more at www.learnwithdremily.com

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit learnwithdremily.substack.com

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Parenting On Your Own Path Course
Online Course for Elementary Teachers
Bring Dr. Emily to Your School
Summer Workshops

I’m just going to say it: Homework is a thorn in the side for most parents raising neurodivergent kids. In case you haven’t experience it, let me explain:

You wake up in the morning ready to implement your well-crafted morning routine that includes the most efficient way to get your child clothed, fed, packed up, and in the car with the fewest moments of frustration, tears, and conflict with siblings. Because school is hard for your child, making it through the morning routine and into the school building is your child’s first triumph of the day.

During that school day, your child is faced with challenging tasks. There will be spoken language to process, pencils to grip, bodies to keep still, transitions to initiate, social interactions to understand, and non-preferred academic work to complete. Your child will be exhausted when they get to you at pick-up. This is understandable. They have just “left it all on the field” of the classroom. They need time to recover, to engage in preferred play, and to rest and reconnect with you. But before they can rest, some days your child will have a therapy appointment to work on emotional regulation, language skills, motor skills, or sensory needs.

But, what happens when they get home? There is homework. Your child does not yet work independently so you are now their teacher, except you don’t have a degree in special education. Not only do you not know how to teach your exhausted child, you are also trying to cook dinner, pick up a sibling from dance, and return a work call because you left work early to be home with your child after school. You are exhausted, too.

So, why are we giving homework to our most worn-out students? There are many costs, but are there any benefits?

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This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit learnwithdremily.substack.com.

Learn with Dr. Emily is edited by Earfluence.

Helpful Resources
Parent Workshops - https://learnwithdremily.substack.com/s/parent-workshops
Professional Development - Bring Dr. Emily to Your School - https://www.learnwithdremily.com/schools